Eftsure extends multi-layered verification to recruitment industry, warning single-layer controls keep clearing fraudulent contractor payments
SYDNEY – Eftsure, a global leader in payment fraud prevention, has expanded its multi-layered verification platform into the recruitment industry. The company now applies the same protection to contractor and sole trader payment files. Previously, it used the platform for B2B payments. As a result, recruitment firms receive stronger protection every pay cycle.
At the same time, Eftsure is warning finance leaders that many common verification methods, including one-off name matching, no longer provide enough protection against increasingly sophisticated payment fraud.
Recruitment firms face unique payment fraud risks
“The recruitment industry is uniquely exposed,” said Ramesh Menon, Chief Product Officer at Eftsure. “These firms run some of the most complex payment environments in Australia and New Zealand.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1.1 million Australians worked as independent contractors in August 2025. As a result, contractors represented 7.6% of the workforce. Administrative and support services, which includes recruitment and labour hire, recorded the highest contractor density in the country at 22% of all employed workers.
“A single recruitment agency can pay thousands of contractors, sole traders, temps, and locums each cycle,” said Menon. “New payees are added every week, and bank details are typically supplied by candidates themselves, often by email. The mix of high volume, high turnover, individual payees, and time pressure is precisely the condition fraudsters look for.”
Common weaknesses in recruitment payment workflows
Eftsure has observed fraudsters targeting several weaknesses across customer payment environments, including:
- Self-supplied bank details from candidates rather than verified business entities
- Contractors changing bank accounts during engagements or after periods of inactivity
- Payroll batch processing that conceals individual account changes within large payment files
- Time pressure that reduces opportunities for manual verification
The Australian Federal Police has identified similar risks within the construction sector. Recruitment firms face many of the same challenges. However, they also rely heavily on banking details provided directly by candidates rather than established businesses.
Why single-layer verification no longer works
“We have seen payments that customers believed were legitimate turn out to be fraud,” said Michelle Cram, Vice President of Customer Operations at Eftsure. “Bank statements, phone confirmations, and one-off name-and-account matches can all be fabricated or manipulated. A single layer of verification is not enough for AP teams processing large volumes of contractor payments, especially when AI tools and large language models are helping fraudsters identify control gaps in minutes rather than weeks.”
According to the ACCC‘s Targeting Scams report, Australians lost $166.8 million to payment redirection scams during 2025.
In many cases, criminals impersonate contractors and submit updated banking details. The recruitment agency then pays the fraudster. Meanwhile, the legitimate contractor receives nothing. The contractor remains unpaid, forcing the business to issue a second payment and absorb the loss.
Continuous verification protects contractor payments
Eftsure’s expanded verification engine confirms that each payee is who they claim to be and that the nominated bank account belongs to them. The platform also monitors ongoing risk indicators and flags banking detail changes before the next payment cycle begins.
The company’s continuous monitoring capability already alerts customers to vendor banking changes. Eftsure has now extended that protection to individual contractors and other payees.
“Single-layer verification has its place, but it cannot carry the weight at the volume and turnover recruitment firms operate at,” said Cram. “Recruitment payments run through ERP, payroll batches, and bulk file uploads. Verification at this scale needs to operate at the payee level, before payments are loaded, and continuously through the payee lifecycle.”
Expanded protection backed by payment guarantee
The recruitment industry expansion is supported by Eftsure’s payment guarantee, subject to terms and conditions.
In addition to recruitment firms, the expanded platform supports insurers, superannuation funds, credit unions, mortgage brokers, NDIS providers, and digital marketplace operators.
About Eftsure
Eftsure is the global market leader in payment fraud prevention. Specifically designed for businesses, Eftsure’s end-to-end solution safeguards hundreds of billions of dollars in B2B payments every year, made to vendors located in over 40 jurisdictions. Powered by global cross-checking and dedicated verification teams, Eftsure gives organisations greater control over vendor onboarding and payment processes, helping ensure that businesses do not pay the wrong people.
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